Saturday, September 27, 2008

Out of the mouths of babes

ARGH!

So Harper has promised to go hard on 14 year olds convicted of violent crimes. Great. How about going hard on hate crimes? How about convicted gay bashers? I would like to hear from Mr. Mayencourt on this, given that it happened in the heart of the riding he wants to represent.

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Just after midnight, Jordan Smith, was walking hand in hand with a friend - another man - near Davie and Hornby. He could hear a group of men yelling profanities and gay slurs. Smith says he tried to walk away, but the men pursued.

"They got in front of me and all I remember really next was waking up in the hospital. The guy hit me so hard that it broke my jaw and I fell backwards, hit my head on the pavement and I was unconscious."

Is Mr. Mayencourt going represent his constituants by going to Mr. Harper and demanding that he come down harder on convicted gay bashers? Better yet, how about restorative justice? Not if he wants to stay in caucus, he won't. He will sit silently in the house and vote how he is told.

This couple could easily have been my good friends R & H. As for the attackers, I think they should be sentenced to 10 years of cooking, cleaning and performing general house elf activities for Smith in addition to 20 years of publicly speaking out against gay bashing.

Where did I come from?

The poll results are driving me bananas. Harper at 40%? Are you fucking kidding me? Well maybe not if that many Canadians are as myopic as my own mother.

Firstly, she thinks Steven Harper is wonderful, yet Gordon Campbell is evil. WTF? Of course, she thought Thatcher was fabulous (we lived in the UK during the Thatcher years). This from the same woman who was an Ed Broadbent NDP supporter. She also hates Mulroney, Cretien and Trudeau. I just don't understand this woman or how I could have been raised by her.

I have a feeling that my mother thinks that all liberals are created equal (ie BC Liberals = Federal Liberals). She thinks the BC Carbon Tax is a bad thing. In its present form, I have to agree, but she is one of those who has made NO effort to understand the Green Shift - tax what you burn, not what you earn.

While my mother lives on a very limited income, she still brings in enough to require her to pay income tax.

As far as I can tell, she doesn't make many large purchases. Certainly not enough to cause her to pay out more in GST than she receives in GST credit.

This woman is THRILLED at a cut in the GST by 2%, yet doesn't clue in that when Harper took office, he revoked her income tax reduction given by the liberals, and as a result, she ends up with less money in her pocket

Eg.

If mum's taxable income is $30,000, she would receive $242 in GST Credit.

To pay $242 in GST at the old rate of 7%, she would have to spend $3457 in GST applicable goods and services.

If she spent that same amount at the new rate of 5%, the extra money in her pocket would be $69.15

Her income tax savings over a year at the liberal gov't reduced rate of 15% (down from 16%) would be $300 and at the conservative gov't rate of 15.5% would be $150.

What looks better to you? .5% off of my mother's income tax or 2% off the GST she pays?

My mother is smart and careful when it comes to money, so I am really surprised that she just doesn't "get it" when it comes to calculating savings on income taxes versus savings on retail or carbon taxes.

I also don't get that she just doesn't see that Steven Harper is an environmental and economic disaster. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my mother has cable and watches television.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Politics Imitates Art?

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - Media owners controlling polititiansWag the Dog - Creating a diversion to draw attention from a scandalBob Roberts - Right wing polititian pandering to family values and morality to get elected

If you haven't seen these, do - they will open your eyes. If you haven't seen them recently, go ahead and refresh your memory.

volume is up to 11

Never could stay silent for long and given all the political crazy, I just couldn't keep from commenting.

This has got to be the most insane election situation ever. My frustration level is beyond compare.

I don't want sound bites, I don't want talking points, I don't want character attacks and I don't want spin.

What do I want?

I want election platforms presented by all parties the day after the writ is droppedI want the media to report in a fair and unbiased way. All the facts with none of the spin.I want all ridings to hold all-candidates meetings with manditory candidate attendance.I want the press to have unrestricted access to the candidates and the leaders.I want political donations to be limited to individuals only (no corporations, unions, etc) to a maximum of $1000. I want an end to third party political advertising.

I want a country where my food is safe, my water is safe, my air is safe, my rights are safe. I want a country where everyone gets a fair shake. I want a country where everyone is valued equally. I want a country where my government is just as enthusiastic to provide my social safety net as it is to collect my taxes. I want a country where my government is more concerned about individual citizens than it is about big business.I want a country that the rest of the world will look to for inspiration.

I know I am asking for a lot. None of it is impossible.

This is by no means an exhaustive list and is subject to additions and subtractions at my slightest whim. Kind of like the conservative party election platform